August 2017

Digital marketing is made up of many different techniques and methods. Paid search is one of these techniques that have proved quite popular. Paid search marketing comes in many names these days like search engine marketing, pay per click, cost per click, cost per impression, sponsored listings, and search engine advertisement or paid for placement. If you are a newcomer to the world of digital marketing, all these terms might be a tad confusing. Let’s take a look at the basic meaning of the term paid search. Paid search marketing actually refers to the process of advertising using sponsored listings in a search engine or on a partner site by paying for each time the ad is displayed or clicked.

Cost per Click

This type of paid search involves paying the search engine for each time a user clicks your ad. This is often used in order to improve sales by companies or firms.

Cost Per Impression

This type of paid search marketing involves paying the search engine once your ad appears 1000 times on the user. No clicking is required from the user’s end. This is often used by companies or firms who are looking at boosting their brand awareness.

Google AdWords

This is an advertising product straight from Google, and it offers pay per click as well as cost per impression as well. Interestingly, AdWords is one of the main sources of revenue for Google.

At the end of the day, the goal of any digital marketing firm is to ensure that their client url or name appears at the top of the SERPs. It is essential to be in the top five searches to be relevant to the user and having a chance of being clicked on. Pay per click is the easiest way to the reach the top of the SERPs, if you have the cash to back it up. Unfortunately, it is out of reach for most small businesses.